Pulling the strings
by Hinata HyuUchiha
Summary: What happens when Terra finds out who her private teacher for guitar lessons are? And what happens when she messes up in front of him? Nothing bad apparently.


The bell rang rang and students quickly rushed out of the classroom and lagging behind them all was a blonde-haired girl, books tightly clutched under her arms.

Her gaze went to her shoes as her mind tried to ignore the troubling thoughts of having exams next week. Maybe she needed to do something to get it off her mind. And that's when she remembered that she could always pick up on some classes she had dropped after only a few sessions due to having a lot of school projects during the summer.

Terra exited the building and was walking home when she noticed a flier on the wall of a shop she was passing.

'Private Guitar lessons'

She stopped and wrote down the number. Once she got home, she called immediately but as soon she said 'Hello' the other hung up. But she wouldn't give up and texted her mysterious teacher and after an hour she was asked for her address.

The first meeting was arranged for tomorrow afternoon.

Soon that day arrived and Terra brought out her old guitar she found in a second-hand shop for practice before she heard her doorbell ring.

But once she opened the door, she stared in surprise at who stood before her - it was none other than Beast Boy!

"What are you doing here?" she asked a little irritated before he chuckled nervously, switching his large black bag to the front.

"Uh...teaching you how to play the guitar?"

"You're not Garfield. I was supposed to meet him."

"Here I am," he smiled a little nervously before she looked even more surprised.

"You're Garfield. So you're...my teacher?"

"Hey, don't worry. You'll get the hang of it! I know it," he smiled encouragingly before Terra glanced away for a moment.

"If you say so. Come in," she waved him in and the sat on her bed in her small room before Beast Boy pulled out his guitar (which was a gift from Jericho) and handed it to her.

"How much do you know? Should I start from the notes?"

Terra shook her head. "No. I know a little. Not a lot but, you know. The basics," she said and pulled on each string separately as she began saying the notes.

"Good. So could you play...this for me?" he asked and showed her a sheet with some notes on it.

"I'm not sure I can play a song yet," she said a little unsure.

"You won't know until you try," he smiled and with a sigh, she began to try to play but as bad luck wanted it, she didn't get far when she made her first mistake and she stopped.

"No. That didn't sound right."

"It's fine, Terra. Try again."

So Terra played from the beginning, this time putting her finger on a string below the previous one and getting a good sound out.

"Keep going. You're doing good. Just don't forget to keep the pace."

"I know, I know," she said but that was when Terra missed her timing and hurriedly tried to cover up, hitting the wrong note in the process. "Ugh...great!"

"Why did you stop?" Beast Boy asked and Terra looked at him a little disappointed.

"I messed up again."

"What's the problem? That's why I'm here for. Just keep playing," he said and Terra started again from the beginning and once again forgot which note to hit next. But she didn't give up yet and tried it again, hitting a wrong note this time but like Beast Boy said, she kept playing - or at least trying to.

Her fingertips began to hurt, causing her to hit the next note not quite right since the sound didn't come out as good as she wanted. She stopped briefly, growling in frustration.

"I can't even focus correctly!"

"I don't see it like that. You look like you were about to pull those strings off the guitar," he chuckled and a small smile formed on her lips.

"Didn't you hear how bad I was?" she asked, putting the guitar aside. "Maybe I should just stick to reading."

The changeling frowned and took the guitar before carefully moving behind her and putting it upright in her lap. "No way! You think too much! Don't think about how to get it right. Just think of the song you're playing," he said, guiding her hands to their previous position and Terra felt her heart skip a beat for a moment.

"But...I don't even know that song," she said, feeling her fingers move from one string to the other in a timely manner as the changeling guided her.

"Now you will."

It was strange. It was like she was playing this song on his guitar, not missing or hitting a wrong note even once. And yet, it wasn't.

"Now you try it."

"What?" Terra muttered confused, suddenly realizing that her hands were free of his hold.

"Just play," he laughed a little and Terra began to play, fingers following the same path, the changeling made her take as slowly but surely, the music was picked up by her ears.

And as she played with increasing confidence, a smile formed on her face.

This time, it wasn't Beast Boy pulling the strings - it was her!


End file.
